HALLMARK CHANNEL'S "COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS" CONTINUES ON A RATINGS ROLL WITH ORIGINAL MOVIE, "THE WISHING TREE", ATTRACTING NEARLY 3.9 MILLION UNDUPLICATED VIEWERS AND GARNERING A 2.3 HH RTG

Ranks as Hallmark Channel's Highest Original Movie of the Year
Among Households, W25-54, A25-54, and Total Viewers

#1 Cable Network Among W25-54 Rating For The Weekend and #1 Among Households in Primetime for Saturday

On the heels on last week's resoundingly successful "Countdown to Holiday Preview Weekend", nearly 3.9 million unduplicated viewers tuned in to watch wishes come true in the Saturday, November 10th world premiere of Hallmark Channel original movie, "The Wishing Tree," garnering a 2.3 household rating. Continuing the trend of record breaking holiday ratings, "The Wishing Tree" becomes Hallmark Channel's highest rated original movie of the year among households, women 25-54, adult 25-54, and total viewers. For the weekend (Sat-Sun, 6am-6am), Hallmark Channel ranked as the #1 cable network among women 25-54 with a .7 rating and also positioned the channel as the #1 cable network for Saturday in primetime among household rating.

The Saturday evening telecast of "The Wishing Tree", part of Hallmark Channel's highest rated week of 2012, was the #1 rated ad-supported cable movie of the day and the #2 movie of the week among the key demo of women 25-54. In addition, the film was the #1 ad-supported cable movie of the week and ranked #1 in HH (2.3 rtg), #2 in W25-54 (1.1 rtg), and #2 in P2+ (1.2 rtg) in key demo ratings for the 8pm-10pm time period. "The Wishing Tree" also placed in the top 10 for household and key demo impressions, including #2 in HH (2,006,000), #3 in W25-54 (511,000), and #3 in P2+ (2,546,000). The original movie boosted Hallmark Channel to be the #1 rated cable network for the entire day among W25-54 (.6 HH rtg).

In "The Wishing Tree", a young English professor (Gedrick) at a prestigious boarding school, struggling to move on after the death of his wife, agrees to teach several "orphan" students who have nowhere to go for the holidays. Professor Evan Farnsworth quickly runs into a challenge when privileged bad boy Drew (Harmon) decides to take out his anger on the neighboring town's ancient Wishing Tree, a bare tree decorated with handwritten notes containing the townspeople's greatest holiday wishes. Using the Wishing Tree, the professor is able to bring everyone together and find renewed hope when he helps turn Drew's troubled life around. The movie stars Jason Gedrick ("Luck," "Necessary Roughness"), Richard Harmon ("The Killing"), Teryl Rothery ("Hellcats"), and Erica Cerra ("Eureka").

Source: The Nielsen Company, November 5 - 11, 2012

ABOUT HALLMARK CHANNEL

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming available in high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) to a national audience of nearly 87 million subscribers. Hallmark Channel is the nation's leading destination for quality family programming with an ambitious slate of original TV movies and specials, as well as some of television's most beloved sitcoms and series, including The Golden Girls, Frasier, Little House on the Prairie, and The Waltons. The channel is also home to a diverse range of lifestyle programming, including the newly-launched Home & Family, a daily two-hour live show shot in a fully functional house located on the Universal Studios lot and Marie, a one-hour talk show hosted by iconic entertainer, Marie Osmond. Hallmark Channel's sibling network, Hallmark Movie Channel, also available in HD and SD, focuses on family-friendly movies with a mix of classic theatrical films, presentations from the acclaimed Hallmark Hall of Fame library, original Hallmark Channel movies, and special events.